


Falling For Dreams

by fandomcuddles



Category: The Walking Dead & Related Fandoms, The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: F/M, rick grimes - Freeform, the walking dead - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-27
Updated: 2019-01-27
Packaged: 2019-10-17 18:22:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,629
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17565650
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fandomcuddles/pseuds/fandomcuddles
Summary: After the downfall, your only priority was being safe. In Alexandria, safety was granted and secured. You had a pretty hard time adjusting; everyone playing house while you still stood guarded. Safety in a world like this was never granted. One day Rick invites you to dinner with the group, but ends up confessing his feelings before everyone arrives and you can’t help but ask what would happen if you let down your guard once and risked feeling safe again in the arms of this man.





	Falling For Dreams

**Author's Note:**

> I haven’t written in over a year or two and ya know, I recently decided I wanted to start writing again...so here I am! More fics are coming soon so stay tuned and stay safe. Requests are always open!! (love y’all <3)

During the course of the Apocalypse, or whatever the hell this was, you’d come to learn the importance and value of the little things that made life a little less boring and tedious, something it was now. Reading a book, painting your nails, and having long baths were some of the things you so dearly missed from your old life. You knew these weren’t possible when it all started, so you could only dream of it. You could only dream of peace, for it wasn’t granted to you now. Nothing was ever granted to you.    
  
The sun in Alexandria shone down on your back as you made your way through the streets; pockets of people were scattered here and there, making the place seem odd. You weren’t yet accustomed to being safe, like they were; not completely safe, but just enough that they didn’t have to worry about walkers. You, on the other hand, hadn’t grown accustomed to the idea of being safe and inside the walls. You were never truly safe in this world. You had intended on finding that so called safeness in this new year, or at least what everyone thought was a new year. It all remained the same for them, day after day. Same faces, same people, same worrying thoughts; nothing ever changed for them.    
  
You intended to change the way you viewed everything in life. You needed to grow accustomed to being safe, or at least the thought of it. 

 

Your appearance had become of little importance when it all started. You had no time to care for it and you were, frankly, a mess. Your (Y/H/C) hair was unkempt, your nails were uncut and your clothes were just the same every single day: a dirty pair of jeans and a stained t-shirt. Everything the people in Alexandria gave you, you refused. In all honesty, you were still wary about what they wanted from you. That’s why you decided to go out today, to look for something nice: some cute trinkets that made you feel more… you. You planned on taking a path through the part you very well knew Carl used to climb when he went to the woods with Enid.    
  
“Where are you going?” a voice you could only recognize as Daryl’s said behind you, startling you for just a split second.

 

“Nowhere. Why?” you said, faking a smile you knew Daryl was going to be not so convinced about. 

 

“Officer Friendly said he’s gonna have a dinner at his house tonight. He wanted ya to come.” 

 

You laughed a little too loudly at this, recognizing the old moniker you used to call Rick when you first met him.    
  
“What’s so funny ‘bout that?” Daryl asked, frankly being set off by your laugh. You shrug and turn around, hearing him say something about dressing nice. At the mention of this you were even more certain that you just had to find something decent or else it was just going to be a plain t-shirt and jeans, which you were tired of wearing.    
  
\- - -    
  
You returned to Alexandria with only three hours of sunshine to spare, dinner time usually being at sundown. Fortunately, no one had noticed you were gone. You knew that meant that no one cared about you enough to check where the hell you had been all day, but that didn’t bother you.    
  
Three hours went by in a flash. Your nails were now painted cherry-red, making them seem so perfectly manicured in comparison to the state they were in just a few hours before. A wine-colored, off-the-shoulder tulip dress hugged your body nicely, effectively replacing the jeans and t-shirt combo and accentuating all the right places. Looking back at the window you noticed the sun was setting. 

 

“Shit,” you mumbled. Being punctual had always been important to you.    
  
You quickly slipped on your flats, walking out the door in a hurry. A few twists and turns and you arrived at the Grimes household. Knocking on the door twice, you were greeted by Carl and baby Judith resting on his hip, the latter instinctively reaching out to you. You happily obliged and took the little ass kicker out of his hands.    
  
“You know, Carl, you usually say  _ come in _ when you greet people at the door.” you teased.

 

Carl scoffed and rolled his eyes. “Come on in,  _ your royal highness _ .” 

 

You ignored the comment and let yourself in. Carl was half expecting you to keep on the act so he could have at least a little bit of fun in this horrible reunion with his family, or so he called them.    
  
“(Y/N).”

 

Looking up you were met with a pair of captivating blue eyes, pools of emotions you had wanted to get lost in since you had first laid eyes on them. Quickly glancing around the room for a temporary distraction, you noticed no one was there. 

 

“Rick, where is everyone?” A little hand touching your nose distracted you from the conversation. You looked down at baby Judith and smiled at her, slightly puckering your lips so she could give you a kiss.    
  
Rick watched as you played with Judith, noticing just now the change in your appearance. Your hair was now loose from its usual ponytail, and everything you kept hidden underneath the hundreds of layers of clothing you wore everyday was now in full display. He could see just how much he had been missing. Every single detail about you was worth admiring. 

 

He knew you would never lay eyes on a man like him, a man almost twice your age. A man who had lived almost every experience you longed for before all of this.    
  
“Either workin’ or hangin’ out with them neighbors. Ya’ arrived a little bit too early,” Rick said slowly, catching both of yours and Judith’s eyes. Judith squirmed around in your grasp and stretched her tiny little arms towards her father. “Aren’t you a little excited today, my little Judith? I guess she doesn’t like me anymore.”

 

Looking at Rick you pouted a little, making the effect dramatic, which earned a laugh from him.    
  
“What’s  _ not _ to like about you? Hell--  what’s not to  _ love  _ about you?” 

 

Such simple words. In simple words he had admitted his feelings for you. 

 

You’d imagined this scenario in so many different ways, none of them even remotely like this one. But that didn’t matter. The man could’ve said it while killing a walker and you would’ve been happy either way. 

 

“Rick,” you reminded him, “the baby.”

 

Rick took two steps forward and took Judith from your arms, but he didn’t move. Judith’s tiny little hands moved from Ricks chest towards the air, silently asking to be given something to grab onto. Obliging, you gave her your finger and she held it close to her little heart, prompting you to move a step closer to Rick so she could have a better grasp on it. 

 

“Did you mean it? Is there something more? Do you really love everything about me?”

 

The questions seemed to linger in the air for hours, your heart beating faster every millisecond that passed by. 

 

What if he said no? 

 

That it was a mistake. 

 

You should’ve kept your mouth shut.

 

An eternity seemed to have passed before Rick broke the silence.

 

“I love you. I love ya’ to the end of times. I love ya’ to the end of the earth. So much of my life after the downfall was twisted and painful; now that happiness and love flow through me, I can’t believe it. Maybe I’ve fallen in love...for a dream by your side. I know you don’t feel the same way. Hell, I’m twice your age (Y/N).”

 

“So what? Who cares about age now? Finding love in the middle of all this is-”

 

Rick raised his eyebrows, “Hey, you’re rambling. Calm down. As I was saying, seeing you care for Judith and Carl; it made me realize that I liked you more than I had accounted for. Then, it turned into so much more than liking you; overnight I suddenly wished you were the woman I could come home to. You’re just too pure for this world. You deserve everything. I’m afraid I can’t give ya’ everything; but- it’s okay if you don’t feel the same way.”

  
Leaning your head on Rick’s chest, you sighed. Not knowing what to say in serious situations was a damn near catastrophic thing for you. “Maybe, just maybe,” you said softly, “I’ve fallen for that dream too. I don’t need castles or knights in shining armor. There’s only so much I can have here.”

 

Carl walked in on the two of you. Rick rapidly noticed him and shooed him away with a glare. 

 

You continued, “It just feels so foreign. Everyone plays house and cooks dinner. They feel safe, but I don’t. No peace is ever granted just like that. I like you, maybe I can learn to love you; but not just yet. I can’t play house when I don’t feel at home. I need you to teach me what it’s like again. That feeling of comfort; I want it.”

  
He took one hand out of Judith's hold and wrapped it around you, giving you a side hug and moving you closer to him, if that was even possible.

 

“We’ll figure it out.” Rick leaned down, “Can I kiss you?” 

 

You looked up, surprised he asked you that question, consent is always important. Slowly nodding, you closed your eyes and waited for the moment you had dreamt of one too many times. He captured your rose colored lips in his with passion, eliciting a gasp from your part. The start of many beginnings and dreams by his side.

 


End file.
